Mutant of the Opera
by PittsBurghFuzz
Summary: The X-Men discover an interesting mutant in Paris, named Erik. His powers are most interesting...CANCELED
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Murders in Garnier

By: PittsBurghFuzz

Since the 1800's, the Garnier Opera House has rumored to be home of the legendary figure, the Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom has been blamed for several accidents in the old venue, including a large chandelier crash, and the abduction of a sixteen year old singer. Very few have seen his face, and the descriptions have varied drastically. The description that most people go with is that his face is like that of a "death's head". Supposedly, his weapon of choice is the punjab lasso, which coined the phrase, "Keep your hand at the level of your eyes." The myth of the Phantom, or "Opera Ghost", had a decrease of belief roughly around 1881. However, during the 20th century, there were scattered Phantom sightings and attacks. This caused few resurgences of the belief of the Phantom, and small investigations, but no results. Most recently, in the year 2010, an attack occurred. A man in his forties went down the cellars of the Opera House. The next morning, his body was found hanging from Box Five.

The next morning, it was all over the news, and caused great shock. Professor Charles Xavier was using Cerebro at the moment, and senses a mutant in Paris. Xavier could not believe what Cerebro found. Xavier telepathically told the X-Men to meet him in the meeting room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Mission Briefing

By: PittsBurghFuzz

After Xavier made the X-Men aware of the meeting, his team got into their uniforms, and went to the meeting room. In the meeting room, were Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Wolverine, Beast, Shadow Cat, and Jean Grey, awaiting the professor's orders.

"What's up professor?" Cyclops asked with enthusiasm.

"Teacher's pet." Shadow Cat whispered to Nightcrawler, and both laughed.

"Kurt! Kate!" Storm said loudly.

"Sorry." Nightcrawler said.

"Alright then Xavier, what the hell's goin' on?" Wolverine asked, in an annoyed tone.

"Well, Logan, I would be happy to explain." Xavier said to Logan. "Now, I believe you are all aware of what happened last night in Paris, right?"

"Yeah, with that murder?" Jean asked.

Xavier nodded. "Yes. Interestingly enough, Cerebro detected a most interesting mutant."

"Do you mean that-" Beast asked.

"Yes Hank, the murderer was the same mutant I have found." Xavier told Beast.

"So are we going to take him back here for justice?" Shadow Cat asked.

"No. Don't forget, he's in France, not America." Xavier reminded Shadow Cat.

"Okay then, what do you want us to do?" Storm asked.

"Well Storm, I wanted to see if we could recruit this mutant for the team."

Rogue was in the corner of the room, leaning on the wall. "What powers does he have?" she asked.

"Good question Rogue, and that is why I want a few of you to go to the Garnier and investigate." Xavier told the team. "Storm, you are going to lead the team, and as for the rest..." Xavier was thinking of which team members to assign on this mysterious mission. "Alright then, as for your subordinates, I want Rogue, Kate, Jean, and Cyclops to go on the mission."

The five members of the team went to the Blackbird and buckled their seat belts. It took not very long to get to Paris, and they landed on top of a building, with the ship's cloaking device on, along with the hover mode set, so the building wouldn't collapse. The students and Storm put on regular clothing and exited the Blackbird.

"Alright then, everyone ready?" Storm asked.

They all nodded.

"Good, now the professor has bought us tickets to see an opera, so we can get into the Garnier easier."

"So what show are we seeing?" Cyclops asked.

"Scott, we are seeing _Faust_." Storm told him.

"What?" Shadow Cat asked.

Storm shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what it is, but that really doesn't matter right now, we have to get dinner now. Who's hungry?"

All of the students nodded.

"Alright then, let's get down here. Kate? Can you get us down?"

"Sure." Shadow Cat held on to everybody, and they went through the ceiling and got into an abandoned building.

"Is this building supposed to be abandoned?" Rogue asked.

Storm nodded. "Yes, which is why we landed here, so that Kate's powers are not as easily seen. Now if I am correct, there is a door leading to an alleyway-Ah-hah!" Storm pointed to a door. The five of them exited the building, and entered a dark alleyway. After the alleyway, they saw the busy streets of Paris, and its beautiful buildings and architecture.

"Paris, isn't it beautiful Scott?" Jean asked.

"Indeed." Cyclops said to Jean. They shared a kiss.

Rogue saw this and her eyes were teary. None of them saw, her but she thought it was obvious that she was upset. Rogue was remembering when Gambit was killed by the Brotherhood several months ago. Since then, she tried a relationship with Bobby(Iceman) but that fell apart. Rogue was convinced that love would never cross her again. They had dinner at some place called Pierre's. The food was fairly good, but very expensive. At 6:30, the five mutants went to the Garnier early to look around. They could not believe how beautiful the building was. The staircase was nothing less than marvelous, and the statues on top of the building were spectacular. Rogue had seen the 1925 version of "The Phantom of the Opera", and she could just picture Lon Chaney with his Red Death costume, blazing red, and swearing vengeance against Raoul de Chagny. They went into the auditorium and saw the mighty chandelier. It looked so huge, that one would be afraid if it were to come crashing down. Jean was taking pictures in the building, for memory purposes as well as to pretend she was taking pictures for a news paper. Even with murder in Garnier, the show was still going to play that night.

"Is that Box Five?" Shadow Cat asked.

"Yes, they have it closed off for investigation purposes." Cyclops told her.

The team did not have a complicated plan. Storm and Shadow Cat were going to stay in their seats, waiting for Rogue, Jean, and Cyclops to perform their half of the job, which was to find the mutant. At 7:45, the show was fifteen minutes away from starting. Kate and Storm were sitting by the orchestra, while Jean and Scott sat in a box together. Rogue was in the standing area. She liked that idea because she was away from the rest of the group. She thought that Scott and Jean shouldn't be here, or at least one of the two should have been home. Rogue couldn't stand their constant smooching. At 8:15, Rogue and Shadow Cat exited the theater area, and went back to the main lobby. They heard laughing.

"Who was that?" Kate asked.

"I don't know, but I bet we're gonna kind out." Rogue replied.

The maniacal laughter continued. It sounded like that of a man in his forties or fifties. Then, the unexpected happened.

"She's singing to bring down the chandelier!" the voice called out.

Rogue and Kate went back to the theater area and saw the mighty chandelier shaking. The huge chandelier finally crashed down onto the audience, undoubtedly killing at least one person. People were rushing out of the theater, and Kate took hold of Rogue, and the moving masses of humans, phased through them like ghosts. Rogue and Kate then went to the old Prima Donna's room, to hide from the people. Scott and Jean met them there.

"Did you see the chandelier?" Jean asked.

"Yeah! Do you think the mutant did it?" Kate asked.

"Maybe, let's find an entrance to the cellars and find out." Scott suggested. All of the team but Rogue ran out of the room. Rogue found something very peculiar. There seemed to be a lever on the mirror in front of her. She slid the lever, and the mirror slid to the side, revealing an entrance. Rogue did not know what it was, but she tried it anyway. The mirror closed behind her. Rogue walked forward, until she got to a staircase three minutes later. The staircase seemed to last forever, but in all honesty, it really didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Phantom

By: PittsBurghFuzz

Rogue saw a door next to her, as she descended the staircase. Rogue then decided to open the door. What appeared before her was a dock, with a gondola floating on the underground lake.

Rogue shrugged her shoulders, and decided to go on the gondola. "Why not?" she said to herself.

There was an eerie feeling throughout the boat ride that Rogue felt as if someone was watching her. Rogue then approached a gate.

"Damn it!" Rogue yelled.

The gate rose as soon as Rogue stopped speaking. This made her tremble slightly, but Rogue was unafraid. As soon as Rogue entered, she was stunned by the sheer splendor of the place she came into. In front of Rogue was a beautiful lair! There was a nice dock for the gondola with several candelabras, rising from the still lake. On the land section, there were a few doors, more candelabras, and a drawing room area. Then, she saw a huge organ, with sheets of music all over the floor.

"Wow, I feel like I'm in an antique shop or somethin'." Rogue said to herself.

Then laughter came out of the still silence. The laughter seemed to have come from behind her, near the gate

"Who's there?" Rogue asked, turning around quickly.

"Me." the voice said. It was behind Rogue again, at the dock!

Rogue turned around again, but did not see anyone.

"Come out you coward!" Rogue yelled.

"All right then." the voice replied, laughing.

Rogue turned around, and behind her was a tall figure. He had evening clothes on, with a long black cape, and he wore black leather gloves, similar to Rogue's. He also had nice polished shoes, and wore a black hat. The most interesting piece of attire, was a mask, covering his face, carrying a neutral expression.

"Who are you?" Rogue asked.

"I am Erik." he told Rogue.

His voice seemed to give Rogue a sudden, unexpected joy rise from her, almost a sexual one. Erik stepped forward, and Rogue stepped backward.

"Don't be afraid, I shall not harm you." Erik said to Rogue.

Rogue stopped. "Are you the-"

Erik nodded. "Yes, I am the _mutant _you are looking for."

"How did you know?" Rogue asked.'

"Why my child, I am the Opera Ghost, I know of everything that lies within the confines of this building. You and your friends are from America, right?"

"Yes, did our-"

"Accents? Not theirs, yours. Do you come from the South?"

Rogue nodded, and was blushing. "Yes." she said smiling.

"I see." Erik's voice remained very neutral. "So, your group is here to take me to America?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not going." he simply said.

"You have to."

"Why? Why is it so important for me to go with you back to America?"

"I got down here, didn't I? I could easily reveal your location."

Erik began to laugh.

"Care to share your joke there, Erik?" Rogue asked.

"Oh nothing, its just that, well, you make a fairly valid point. However, one thing you didn't account for, is me!" Erik said, pointing to himself.

"And?"

"And, I could kill you here!" Erik said.

"I'd like to see you tr-ah!"

Rogue's neck was captured by the punjab lasso! Erik disappeared in front of her eyes. Erik's hand then came from behind Rogue, touching her shoulder. Rogue cried out in ecstasy.

"Well my dear, I tried, and look what happened! Now, I will let you go, if you promise not to reveal the secrets of my lair, understand?" Erik asked.

Rogue was trying to get out of the lasso's grip, and her hands were moving across the noose. Rogue accidentally touched his face, and took off the mask. Erik gave a blood curling scream.

"Damn you! You have no idea how stupid that was!" Erik roared.

Rogue suddenly felt fear, trembling while in the lasso. Rogue was able to escape the lasso, but not the rage of Erik. He lifted Rogue by her arm, lifting the poor girl. Rogue found herself, starring at the death's head of Erik! It really did look like the Lon Chaney movie!

Erik gave a rather sinister grin, followed by laughter. The walls started to crack a little.

"Do you see? Now you understand why Erik must conceal himself in this mask! Otherwise, the world goes to pieces!"

Rogue tried to be brave, but tears started rolling down her face. Erik's blue eyes went from being angry and vengeful, to saddened and in despair. Erik let go of Rogue and stumbled away.

"Oh why did you have to see my face, why?" Erik went on his knees and cried.

Rogue saw the mask, and looked at Erik. She looked back at the mask and returned it to Erik. Erik's teary eyes looked into Rogue's, then at the mask. He slowly took it, but something else came into the lair.

"Rogue!" Jean's voice yelled.

"Jean?" Rogue asked.

Erik dropped the mask and gave a threatening roar. This caused several rocks to collapse in front of Jean, along with Scott and Kate. However, Jean lifted the rocks with her powers, and launched them at Erik.

"Ha! Take that!" Jean said with pride.

Erik then was laughing behind her.

"What?" Jean was shocked.

Erik knocked Jean out.

"Jean!" Scott yelled.

Erik saw that cyclops was about to shoot a laser at him, but Erik disappeared, and his shadow seemed to go behind Scott, and Erik reappeared. Erik kicked Scott, and he fell into the water. Kate was running towards Erik, but was forced back, because of Erik's roar. Rogue came behind Erik, and stuck a needle into him. It was a tranquilizer. Erik collapsed. Rogue picked up Erik's mask, and placed it back on his face. Scott came over and picked up Erik.

"Okay, with all of this chaos going on around here, how the heck are we going to get out?" Scott asked.

"I'll use my powers to conceal ourselves." Jean suggested.

"Good idea, now lets get out of this place." Scott said.

Rogue turned her head for a moment to look and appreciate the beauty of the lair, and continued walking.


End file.
